Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Just dusting up around here and look at this, I have a blog. I used to love it and tend it with care, but now it lives most of the time covered with weeds and morning glory pretending to be beans - oh sorry, the metaphorical analogy with my garden just took over...

So, 1023 days in and what has happened?

Well, just before it kicked off, I went with my sister, her kids and Paris to a family gathering - I learned

I have a wonderful sister (I learn that often);

I have a verbose family (like that is a surprise);

Paris does warm up eventually with familiar faces (and surprised us all by voluntarily seeking Nana's lap - although she may have worked out Nana had fish on her plate and Paris LOVES fish); and

car journeys with a back row of little ones are doable for several hours, but hell if you go over that threshhold by an hour or two

'Salina had a very important social engagement to attend that weekend (some 12 year olds have weekend sleepover parties for about a dozen of their nearest and dearest, and she was nearest and dearest enough with this particular birthday girl that she was included in the organising committee, apparently) and so V had to hold the fort with Eddie - I don't think he was too put out with the solitude.

While not traditional in Australia, having US connections means that we do Halloween adventures - with excellent Halloween costumes courtesy of Gramberta.

V took 'Salina and a friend trick or treating, while Paris and I stayed home and played in "mines room".

'Salina was a Zombie (its funny, the photos of pre-teen Zombies never turn out quite as cute as little pumpkins) and her friend appeared to have been dragged through the bushes backwards.

I myself was dressed as a grumpy mother - but the time one-on-one with Paris in "mines room" went a long way to iron the grump away.

Along came November

On the 3rd, there was a very important event to celebrate... ... and we inched that bit closer to having a teenager in our house.

'Salina had a week at school camp and came back about two years older.

Paris is twenty-three months old now, and can jump, tantrum and make jokes. She still has a passion for "mine's room" but now Summer is upon us, swimming is a new favourite.

Not much of a post - I am afraid that life is just flashing by at the moment, with occasional "pin down and do"s going on here and there, but with work and V's study and the last weeks of primary school and just plain growing up going on, it is far too busy yet mundane to grasp the moments and reflect - which is what I plan to do once I have worked out how to compartmentalise the busyness of it all!!!

I always enjoy indulging myself with your life in Paradise. Kudos for finding time--when it's available or just manufacturing some--to share a peek into your joys and challenges, often turning out to be the same thing!

I have not the excuse of having little ones tramping through my daily routines, but still find little time to post. One day again, I'll find something to do in that area. :-)